Clyburn called ISPs—which net neutrality advocates say will have free reign to throttle internet traffic without the rules the FCC voted to rescind last year—“last-mile monopolies.”

“In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need regulation,” she said. “We don’t live in an ideal world, all markets are not competitive, and when that is the case, that is why agencies like the FCC were constructed. We are here as a substitute for competition.”

The former commissioner also blasted Pai’s “deregulatory lens” since being named the head of the FCC.

Clyburn told the news outlet “it would take a whole lot of disruption for him to believe that this free market approach, this deregulatory approach, is not justified—a whole lot of harm, and I mean a whole lot.”

The former FCC commissioner announced last month that she would step down from the agency. During the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality rules, she said she was “outraged” and said agency was “handing the keys” of the internet to a “handful” of corporations.

Andrew Wyrich is a politics staff writer for the Daily Dot, covering the intersection of politics and the internet. Andrew has written for USA Today, NorthJersey.com, and other newspapers and websites. His work has been recognized by the Society of the Silurians, Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE), and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).